CHARMING NOISE | BEST OF 2012 (PART TWO)

5. Julia Holter // Marienbad

4. Bat For Lashes // Laura

3. Purity Ring // Fineshrine

2. Grimes // Oblivion

1. Bear in Heaven // Idle Heart

CHARMING NOISE | BEST OF 2012 (PART ONE)

I used to pride myself on being on top of new releases, but back in those days I was working at a record store and writing about music for my college online newspaper. Now I'm just happy if I can manage to listen to a whole album all the way through every few weeks. Much like those books that I have been neglecting, I plan to get back to my precious records and staying glued to Pitchfork (don't hate) to re-immerse myself in my first love. All of that being said, I still felt like I discovered some pretty great tunes last year, and instead of trying to decide which albums I loved the most, I thought it would be easier to focus on the best tracks of 2012.  

10. Dirty Projectors // Gun Has No Trigger

9. Tame Impala // Elephant

8. Sharon Van Etten // Magic Chords **NSFW**

7. How to Dress Well // Cold Nites

6. Father John Misty // Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings

CHARMING NOISE | GRIMES

one / two / three / four

You've probably had it up to here with people going on and on about how fantastic Grimes is (and if you haven't, then i'm sorry and you should probably get out more), but that's not going to stop me from waxing poetic about her on here for a little bit. I hate to use such a simple word, but I can't think of a better word to describe than "rad." I hate to say this, but it feels like a lot of the music that has been coming out in the past few years has sounded very similar, mostly because everybody jumped on the chillwave bandwagon. Not that I don't love the ambient mellow sounds of Wild Nothing and Washed Out, but it gets a bit monotonous. That is why I am so enamored with Ms. Claire Boucher, the tiny-multi-hued haired-elven-wonder behind Grimes, who is making electronic music so unique that I literally have a hard time taking her cd out of my car. I've heard her described as a mix of Enya, 90s R&B, and the eerie electronics of Aphex Twin, which I would say is pretty apt, even though I never thought that I would like something that has been described as Enya-like, but life is full of surprises like that.